Trump up to 59% support with GOP: poll

Former President Donald Trump commands a sizeable lead in the Republican primary, claiming the support of a clear majority primary voters in a recent survey.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis trailed with 16% in the Morning Consult poll. Tech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy came in third with 8%, former Vice President Mike Pence took 6% support, while former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley claimed 4%.

No other candidate scored above 2%.

The survey corroborates existing data showing Ramaswamy rising in the polls while DeSantis has declined. The survey noted that the past week's data represented the worst showing for DeSantis since the survey began tracking the primary contest.

DeSantis remains the preferred second choice of a plurality (36%) of Trump voters, while 18% opted for Ramaswamy in the event Trump were not an option.

The Florida governor's polling dip appears to have taken its toll on the campaign. DeSantis campaign manager Generra Peck on Tuesday announced that they had laid off more than one-third of the existing campaign staff.

Conducted by July 21-23 the survey questioned 3,576 Republican primary voters and has a margin of error of +/- 2%.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.